Spring-scale



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. MCILVAINE, OF CHAMBERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPRING-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,278, dated May 12,1891.

Application filed January 22, 1890. Serial No. 337,703. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. MoILvAINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chambersburg, in the county of Franklin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aCombined Hook and Scale; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull', clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to a combined hook and scale, its object being toprovide a hook such as is commonly used for the purpose of lifting fish,meats, and other preserved articles or substances from the barrels orother receptacles in which they are contained, with a suitable scale orsimilar device by means of Which the said articles may be easily weighedWithoutdetaching them from the lifting-hook, thus avoiding handling thearticles and preventing the befouling of the counter, scales, &c., whichcommonly occurs when the article is first lifted by means of the hookfrom its brine or pickle and then placed upon a separate weighin gapparatus.

My invention by providing thelifting-hook with a scale combines the twooperations of lifting and Weighing in such an easy, simple, andefficient manner that the device becomes at once a valuable and usefuladjunct to the merchant dealing in iish, meats, and other similarcommodities; and it consists, essentially, in a rigid hook provided witha graduated scale, and alsoin certain details and peculiarities in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of parts, substantially aswill be hereinafter described, and then more fully pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention Figure lis aside elevation of my improved combined hook and scale, the interiormechanism within the handlebein g shown in dotted lines and the devicewith the parts in the position that they occupj'7 when it is not in use.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same with thescale-bar extended out of the handle, the parts being Ashown in theposition that they occupy when the device is in use. Fig. 3 isa sideelevation similarto Fig. l, showing a modified form of the device, thehandle being longer and the scale being differently arranged. Fig. 4E isa view similar' to Fig. 3 in partial longitudinal section to expose thearrangement of the mechanism within the handle.

Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent figures of the drawings.

A denotes the handle of the hook, and B the hooked rod,'having thehooked end I). The handle A may be made of any suitable and desirableform, shape, and size and of any suitable material. It may be made ofmetal, if preferred, and nickel-plated or galvanized to preserve it fromrusting. Brass or iron will afford convenient material of which to makethis handle. Its interior is hollow to permit the location therein ofthe scale-bar and its spring, as will be presently explained.

rlhe upper end of the handle is provided with a slot or opening a',through which the scale-bar emerges and through which said bar isadapted to play during the manipulations of the device. The lower end ofthe handle A is closed by means of a plug or stopper a, which is screwedtherein and to which the end of the hook-rod B is firmly and rigidlyconnected. Thus it will be seen that the handle A and hook B constitutea iish or meat hook adapted to grasp articles contained within apreserving-receptacle and remove them therefrom in the ordinary andusual manner. In Fig. 2 I have indicated in dotted lines one sucharticle which is being grasped by the end b of the hook.

C indicates a scale-bar having a series of graduations thereon adaptedto denote certain degrees of weight. This scale-bar may be of anysuitable and desirable form, shape, and length. It is provided at itsupper end with a ring c, adapted to be held by the user of the devicewhen he is weighing the article suspended by the hook. rlhe scale-bar islocated partially within the handle and plays through the aforesaidopening a. The part of the scale-bar within the handle is surrounded bya coiled spring D, which is tensioned between the upper interior end ofthe handle A and a collar d, located upon the lower end of thescale-bar, said lower end of the scale-bar being screw-threaded at d andprovided with a nut d2, which is adjustable upon IOO the screw-threadedend of the scale-bar, and by means of which the tension of thesurrounding spring may be regulated and changed. It is obvious from thisdescription of the parts that the tendency of the coiled spring will beto retract the scale-bar within the handle and keep it normally in theposition shown in Fig. l, where said scale-bar is completely within thehandle, excepting` the extreme upper end thereof, which is provided withthe ring c. Vhen the device, however, is called into requisition for thepurpose of weighin ga suspended article, the weight upon the lower endof the hook will cause the spring to be compressed,and thus thescale-bar will mark the amount of such weight, said scaleba'r beingeasily read by observing the graduation nearest, to the end of thehandle to which said bar will at the time be emerging, the scale thusregistering in a line with the top of the handle. In Fig. 3 I haverepresented a modification 1n the construction of my improved device.The handle is much longer than in Figs. l and 2, said handle beingdesignated A and being provided with an elongated slot J. The upper endof the handle is provided with a ring similar to the ring c, and thehook-bar B is provided wit-h two hooked ends Z9 b', instead of with one,as in Figs. l and 2. The series of graduations are delineated upon theouter surface of the handle A in a line adjoining the slot J atH,instead of being located upon the movable bar, as is the case in Figsland 2. The rod B is itself reciprocatory, inasmuch as the graduatedscale is fixed with respect to the handle. Said bar B extends upwardthrough an opening in the lower end of the handle into the interiorthereof, and is provided with a nut e., and likewise with a collar f,which collar carries a pointer g, that projects through the longitudinalslot J and rides along upon the outer surface of the handle, being inits course successively brought into proximity with the several membersof the graduated scale, so that this indicator or pointer will mark theamount of weight which is being suspended upon the hook of the device.

Ooiled around the rod B within the handle and tensioned between thecollar f and the inner lower end of the handle is a spring I, similar tothe spring D. This is clearly shown in Fig. l. \Vhen the spring is inits normal position, the pointer q will be at the zero-mark of thescale; but when an object is being suspended by the device the spring Iwill be compressed to a greater or less extent, the result of whichchange in the position of the parts will be to cause the pointer toindicate some other mark upon the scale, and thus show the weight beingsustained upon the device. It will thus be seen that my device consists,essentially, of a rigid iish or meat hook having a suitable handle andprovided with a scale, so that when an object has been withdrawn bymeans of the hook from the .receptacle which contains it the user of thedevice may at once weigh the object without dctaching it from the hook,thus enabling him to save time and to prevent soiling or injuring thecounter, scales, and person.

Any kind of a spring may be used with this device, either the kinddescribed oran expansion-spring.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the hollow handle having an opening in its upperend, the rigidly-connected hook, the scale bar located within the handleand playing through said opening, and the spring surrounding thescalebar.

2. The combination of the hollow handle having an opening in its upperend and a stopper in its lower end, a rigidly-connected hook fastened tosaid stopper, the scale-bar within the handle and playing through theupper opening, and the spring surrounding said scale-bar, as speeilied.

3. The combination of the hollow handle A, having the upper opening aand the stopper a in the lower end thereof, the hook B,

having the end h, said hook being connected 9 to the stopper a, thescale-bar C, provided with ring c, the spring D, surrounding saidscalebar, and the nut cl2 on the end of the scalebar, as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN S. MCILVAINE. Witnesses:

H. E. HOKE, Jr., FRED Il. SHUMAKER.

IVO

